AFCEC announces call for award nominees

  • Published
  • By Jennifer Elmore
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  It's not an Oscar or an Emmy but for Air Force personnel who win a Federal Energy and Water Management Award, it's an honor deserving of the red carpet.

"Energy is critical to the Air Force's ability to achieve our mission to fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace," said Dr. Kevin Geiss, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy. "These men and women are a great example of what each Airman can do to help the Air Force maintain an assured energy advantage."

The Department of Energy named the Air Force the winner of six FEMP awards in 2012. Winners included Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., Yokota Air Base, Japan; Dyess AFB, Texas; and three individuals - Lawrence Johnson, Minot AFB, N.D.; Capt. Reid Touchberry, Misawa AB, Japan; and Elizabeth Toftemark, Scott AFB.

The Air Force Civil Engineer Center collects and evaluates nominations for FEMP Awards. The Air Force can submit a total of 15 nominations that highlight outstanding contributions in energy efficiency, water conservation and the use of advanced and renewable energy technologies at federal facilities.

The nominations cover vehicles, aviation and operational energy and are submitted in one of four categories: project, program, individual and contracting.

· Project awards are for teams that are exemplary in their implementation of energy efficiency, water efficiency, renewable energy and vehicle fleet management projects.
· Program awards are for teams that implement and institutionalize effective management, policy and strategy for energy, water and fleet management.
· Individual awards recognize people who gave extraordinary service to their agencies in fiscal 2011 or over their career of 10 or more years.
· Contracting awards go to individuals who provided exemplary contracting support to their agencies.

The first step for major commands and installations is to submit a summary of information no later than March 13.

"We would like to have a deep pool of nominations from which to select," said Ken Walters, AFCEC performance measurement and analysis division chief. "We'll evaluate the summaries, select the Air Force's best and then let bases and major commands know who continues on to step 2 - complete packages."

The timeline is broken down into several steps. Major commands and installations should enter summary submittals on the FEMP central website by March 13. AFCEC and the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Energy Office will select the best nominations and notify major commands by March 22. Selected candidates will then develop complete nomination packages and submit them to the FEMP central website by April 19.

FEMP is presenting a Federal Energy and Water Management Awards criteria one-hour webinar March 7 and April 9. The webinar will provide an overview of the 2013 criteria, eligibility requirements and tips on how to prepare strong nomination narratives. The session also will include a brief live demonstration on how to create a nomination using the online nomination system. The webinar will be held at 1 p.m. EDT March 7 and at 2 p.m. EDT April 9. The webinar is intended for federal employees and contractors assisting federal staff in preparing and submitting award nominations for the fiscal 2013 awards cycle.